Page 4 of Twice Shy

Chapter Two

It was sweaty work behind the grill, but Ollie didn’t mind. He and Mr. Morgan got into a good rhythm of cooking and serving, and most importantly Rory and Luis were having a ball, chasing about with a pack of kids on the grass. Romping like puppies. They didn’t have much space in the apartment, so he was glad to see them having fun outside. Not that he didn’t take them to the park and the beach to burn off their energy, but he found the sight of them having fun in school pleasing. School hadn’t been a bundle of laughs for him, so it was important that the boys had a better experience.

“They’ll sleep well tonight,” Mr. Morgan said, cutting open another bag of burger buns.

“From your lips to God’s ears.”

Morgan smiled but his gaze was fixed on the kids, their shrieks and laughter rising over the tinny music buzzing from the speakers Jackie had rigged up next to the hall door. He was a handsome man, older than Ollie. In his early thirties, maybe? The suit he wore looked way too expensive for the classroom and entirely unsuitable for grilling. Ollie figured he hadn’t had time to go home and change after work. The light charcoal of his button-down shirt, rolled up to reveal strong forearms, brought out the blue in his dark gray eyes. His hair was cut short on the sides and swept back on top, glossy, dark and very straight.

Unfortunately, his hair wasn’t the only very straight thing about him.

No, Ollie corrected himself,fortunately.

The last thing he needed was a crush on a teacher, not when he was supposed to be passing himself off as a responsible parent. Besides, between work and the boys, he barely had time for laundry let alone love. Or even lust.

Anyway, Mr. Morgan was no doubt happily married with kids of his own. He looked the type, but when Ollie slid a surreptitious glance at his left hand, he saw no ring. Starting to flip the next row of burgers on the grill, Ollie said, “You have kids?”

There was a telling pause before Mr. Morgan said, “No.” When Ollie glanced up, he saw Morgan’s gaze slipping away as if he was avoiding his eyes. “My wife wasn’t keen and then… Well. Things didn’t work out between us.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.” And not only about the wife.

Morgan shrugged. “I see a lot of kids at school, so…”

“And, hey, you can go home at the end of the day and have a beer in peace. Man, there are days…”

“I guess so.” Morgan smiled when he caught Ollie’s eyes. He wanted to ask something, Ollie could almost hear the question in the air between them. People always had questions about the boys. But, to his credit, Morgan only said, “How are those burgers doing?”

“Almost there.”

They spent the next twenty minutes dealing with a rush of parents arriving after work, chatting and laughing with each other as they chowed down on their burgers and watched their kids play on the grass. New Milton was a nice town. Not too fancy, with an easy-going vibe and a growing reputation as LGBT friendly. That was in no small part due to the high-profile wedding between TV actor Finn Callaghan and his musician boyfriend, Josh Newton, which had happened here last summer, followed by this year’s opening of ‘Callaghan’s Majestic Hotel’, which specialized in same-sex weddings.

And which happened to be co-owned by Luca Moretti.

Luca was the main reason Ollie had moved to New Milton after the custody case had finally been settled. All he needed to do now was pluck up courage to pay the guy a call. But he was in no rush, he wanted to give himself time to figure out how to make the approach naturally. And that was yet another reason he was not in the market for a relationship. Or even a hookup. Life was complicated enough right now.

Didn’t mean he couldn’t look, though.

He glanced at Mr. Morgan, chatting with one of the moms, and took a moment to admire the way the sun gleamed in his glossy hair. It was very dark, almost black. Yes, an extremely handsome guy. Ollie suddenly became aware of eyes on him; Morgan’s friend was watching him with a smiling look and Ollie flushed. Great. Caught checking out the teacher.

“You must be Ollie Snow?” the woman said, her smile spreading from her eyes to reach her lips. She was petite and pretty, with a cute crop of finger coils framing her face. They bounced as she reached over the table and offered her hand to shake. “I’m Alyssa.” She spoke with a hint of Caribbean in her accent. “Alyssa Deveaux.”

Ollie recognized her name from Facebook. “Co-chair of the PTA, right?”

“For my sins. And I swear, this is the last year.” She gave Ollie an appraising look as they shook. “You seem young and full of energy. I’ll keep you in mind for next fall.”

Morgan laughed. “Recruiting already, Alyssa? It’s not even September.”

“You think I’m gonna let Jackie talk me into this again next year? Uh-uh. Unlike her, I do actually have a day job.” But she was smiling as she spoke, taking most of the sting from her words. “But, Ollie, I hope you’ll come along to our first meeting next week? Lord knows, we could do with some fresh blood.”

Hard to remember that only two years ago he’d been working on his master’s and looking forward to starting a prestigious internship. But this was his life now. “Is it in the evening?” he hedged, trying not to sound like he was looking for an out. “Because I’m a single parent…”

“You need a babysitter? My eldest is sixteen and as sensible as you can be at that age. Nia does a lot of babysitting around here.” Maybe she saw the raw fear in his eyes, because her expression softened. “Cam will be home, too—he’s my husband—so if Nia has any problems, she’d give him a call and he’d be right over.”

“Okay, well… Thanks.” He’d never used a babysitter, never left the boys in the evening, and could already hear Ruth Palmer’s voice in his ear:Is that suitable care for my grandchildren?He shook the words away. “I’ll certainly think about it, thank you.”

Alyssa smiled, opened her mouth to say more but was drowned out by a squeal of microphone feedback as the music abruptly cut off. “Uh-oh,” she murmured under her breath. “Here she goes.”

‘She’ turned out to be Jackie Olson, making a long and rambling speech about her time in the PTA and how marvelous it was and how marvelous it would be if any of the marvelous new parents wanted to join the marvelous committee. Ollie thought Alyssa’s direct recruiting technique was probably more effective.

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